Is Surface Pro taken seriously as a tablet?

[W24TSN]

Hey!

I was just thinking on the way to work today after looking for some decent games and apps on the Microsoft Store for my Surface Pro....

Are developers really taking the Surface Pro seriously as a tablet or are they dismissing it because it runs Windows 8 Professional?
After all they wouldn't develop apps for a standard Windows laptop/netbook/Ultrabook would they??
A prime example is UK Newspapers. iPad and Android tablet owners can get subscriptions to things like The Sun (a UK tabloid) and The Daily Mail etc but I am yet to find anything for the Surface/Windows 8.
Another example are games like Candy Crush Saga....now although its not a game for me a friends two small children love playing it but have to resort to either an iPad or Android phone.

I'm saying this as a slightly annoyed consumer because after paying the £800 for the Surface there isn't really anything like that for our superior devices!!
I know the Surface (Pro especially) isn't really the kind of thing you would use on the bus because of its weight but the Surface RT would be fine I suppose.

I'm not quite sure I've gotten my point across but I'm just curious to see what others think about the Windows Store for Surface Pro.

 

[Krooked]

Ummmm since the SP is a fully functional windows computer, you can play just about any PC game on it.

I've been playing Portal 1 and 2 on it lately, They run very smoothly.

 

[TeknoBlast]

The beauty about the Surface Pro is that you can install both the games from the MS Store and games from places like Steam.

 

[W24TSN]

Yeah I understand what you mean but I meant actual tablet apps, those designed for tablets and the sort you would find on Apple's App store or Google Play store.
A valid point though about it being able to play almost anything...one of the reasons I like it.

 

[Codevine]

I'd say it takes a while until all major apps are ported and available in the Windows Store. And that doesn't mean the Surface Pro has to be taken seriously, but actually all Windows 8 tablet devices (and/or RT).

 

[CrippsCorner]

Really hoping The Walking Dead 2 comes to the Windows Store! Or maybe I can just install an x86 version... I don't know what it's available on, played the first on on iOS and loved it.

 

[John]

I have installed on my SP128: Rosetta Stone Spanish, Photoshop CS5,Office 365,the Steam games work great and dont forget the numerous games from the Google App store. All you need is Blue Stacks!!

 

[l0rd0din]

Slowly but surely app are appearing in the app store. What I like about Windows 8 apps is that there are some exclusive games for Windows 8 that's not available on IPads or Android.

 

[demandarin]

YES IT SHOULD..LOL im so glad I got into steam games. damn, its truly amazing the quality of games this surface pro can push. seriously. I never expected it to possibly be a gaming rig for me. I had downloaded a demo of F.E.A.R. 2 PROJECT ORIGIN. wtf. I have my pro linked to tv hdmi. the game auto detected the specs or whatever and put me at 1280x720p or whatever resolution. I looked in advanced settings and seen stuff was on high or medium from auto detect. now I begin to play. it looks amazing on my big flatscreen. graphics are really good and games moves very fast. for a game of this quality im surprised the pro is pushing it s o easily. maybe its just me and ive been playing too many android games..lol but im stoked that im playing console or better quality games. then with pro hooked up to big screen its stellar. I haven't had a console in a long time. since xbox360 first came out. then ive just been playing mobile games on ipad, android. never got into the pc gaming scene. it does take some getting use to for me to use type keyboard to navigate. but I do plan to get xbos 360 controller asap.

back to that game, its scary as a mofo...smh I love horror movies and don't scare easily. but this game, with my surround sound system, had me on edge and kinda jumping when I accidentally shot off shotgun with touch pad...haha since this game plays so well I will likely buy the complete game from steam. its only 9.99. what a deal for an amazing looking and playing game.

best thing is you can download demos of games to see how it performs on your device. ive even gotten newer games like Sniper 2 and looks stunning on the pro. especially when mirrored to hd t.v. A great side shooter that has great visuals and plays well is Sine Mora. I have it on Android. but this pc version is way better with ramped up graphics.

I got other new ones im about to test out after this post. like the new Castlevania and a sick looking FPS called Painkiller. now if the pro pushes the new castlevania well, even with adjusting graphic settings, its a wrap.

more than impressed with power of i5 and hd4000 graphics. its allowing me to play quality games ive never had the chance to play before. I see ive been missing out huge on the pc gaming scene.

update: just finished playing new Castlevania. the one about to come out. on 1280x800 resolution on game, it looks and plays fantastic. even on when action gets crazy I experience no slowdown. the surface pro is going to give me my ps3/xbox 360 or better quality gaming ive been missing. I recommend someone else download the free demo from steam and put it on that resolution. whether playing on tablet itself or hooked up to t.v. game looks sooo good on big flat. this is a new game about to drop for all platforms I believe. and my surface pro can push it with no slowdown, at least that ive seen so far. this device aint no joke. unbelievable.

don't mind me. coming from android games, this is way more advanced and capable. all of this is completely unexpected for me. never thought I could play games like that on this device.

 

[machistmo]

all i can say here is : 1,000th viewer ! DOH the counter just stops at 999, thats just mean to do to a fella! I think the battery life is the number one downside to the SP. That coupled with its price and the fact the keybaord then costs another 130+ really sorta kicks ya in jimmy when you can get a nice Windows 8 Mac Book Air copy, Errr I mean Windows 8 Ultra-Book for much less that will give you a slightly heavier unit and double or triple the battery life now will haswell based models hitting the market. I was able to get about 4 hours out of my pro and under normal email, office and browsing use I saw averages of about 3hours and 40 minutes before it approached critical. I cant say it matter that much to me as I am near power most of the time, but it did contribute to making the tablet feel less portable and that is, after all, why I had purchased it in the first place.

 

[ctitanic]

Hey!

I was just thinking on the way to work today after looking for some decent games and apps on the Microsoft Store for my Surface Pro....

Are developers really taking the Surface Pro seriously as a tablet or are they dismissing it because it runs Windows 8 Professional?
After all they wouldn't develop apps for a standard Windows laptop/netbook/Ultrabook would they??
A prime example is UK Newspapers. iPad and Android tablet owners can get subscriptions to things like The Sun (a UK tabloid) and The Daily Mail etc but I am yet to find anything for the Surface/Windows 8.
Another example are games like Candy Crush Saga....now although its not a game for me a friends two small children love playing it but have to resort to either an iPad or Android phone.

I'm saying this as a slightly annoyed consumer because after paying the £800 for the Surface there isn't really anything like that for our superior devices!!
I know the Surface (Pro especially) isn't really the kind of thing you would use on the bus because of its weight but the Surface RT would be fine I suppose.

I'm not quite sure I've gotten my point across but I'm just curious to see what others think about the Windows Store for Surface Pro.

I understand your point, there are many things that have being going with Surface PRO. One was the poor favorable reaction of the public to Windows 8. Secondly the bad reputation of MS that make people think that this is adventure that will be soon dropped like many other MS projects. MS is working trying to fix both points. The bottom line is that Developers believe in numbers (market share). This Christmas this market share changed and MS gained a lot of new owners. But it wont be until those new owners find what you already found and start pushing developers to release Apps versions for Windows RT or Windows Store that the whole panorama will change. The good news is when the Surface RT was released there were a little more than 5000 applications in the Windows Store. Now we have more than 200,000. So we are getting there. Just push a little bit... send developers emails requesting your favorite apps.